83 244DL Starter engaging while turning left

kevman83 · Post by **kevman83** » 01 Aug 2014, 00:04

Hi all I am new to the forums and a new Volvo owner. i have been reading a lot the past few days and wanted a little clarification. My father gave me his old 244, auto trans, anyway while I took it out for a test drive it seemed fine, until I made my first left hand turn. It made a sound like the starter was engaging. Then I finished the turn and the sound stopped, Made another left turn sound came back, straightened out sound stopped. This happened until I got home. He mentioned it may be a short, but after searching online I haven't really found much pertaining to my problem.

What are some things I should look for? I will be going up to his house this weekend to hopefully fix the issue and drive home. I know I need to check the solenoid and connections on the starter, possibly pull it and clean the contacts. Is there any other ideas or places I should look as well? Is it possible it may not even be the starter at all? Thanks in advance

Post by **jimmy57** » 01 Aug 2014, 05:58

Start engine and then unplug the solenoid wire. If the starter op stops then you know wasting time taking starter off and doing anything to it will not be worthwhile towards a repair. I doubt the issue is with starter.
Inspect left engine mount. They are known for failing and if the engine lifts and makes worn wires touch then that would make starter engage.

kevman83 · Post by **kevman83** » 01 Aug 2014, 11:42

Thanks for tip, now that you mention it the left motor mount looked a lil cracked, but when my brother and I tried to recreate the issue in the driveway, we couldn't. I might as well just replace the mounts anyway. Thanks I'll keep you updated.

1choice · Post by **1choice** » 03 Aug 2014, 13:53

If you are making slow MPH, hard turns, that's probably the power steering making that noise.

kevman83 · Post by **kevman83** » 03 Aug 2014, 17:42

I unplugged the starter after starting the car was able to drive a bit but now I have a new problem the trans won't shift. Thankfully I have rebuilt trans hopefully I won't need to use that yet. I'm ordering the motor mounts. That should hopefully fix the starter problem.

It needs a bit of work. So far I can see the shift lock is gone and OD button doesn't work it makes a click sound. The fuse panel looks like its seen better days lol.

1choice · Post by **1choice** » 03 Aug 2014, 18:19

If ATF level is good, then check the kickdown cable, it needs to be adjusted to a specific point so the trans will shift at the correct MPH.

Oh yeah, and that overdrive solenoid is kind of a PIA, IPD makes a kit to bypass it. It's a little tricky but pretty easy to install after reading the directions. Just gotta make sure to pay attention to the seal so you don't create a leak.

kevman83 · Post by **kevman83** » 03 Aug 2014, 18:47

Thanks I'll check that out. I topped off the ATF it looked a lil low. Then drove again same issue. Thanks for the advice.

1choice · Post by **1choice** » 03 Aug 2014, 22:37

Damn well, the kickdown cable is the top cable on the throttle body, it has a larger threaded adjustment piece, 1 or two nuts, and a little blade lock thing that you need to pull off to adjust it. Keep that thing safe, er don't lose it.

This cable is prone to stretching. But before you adjust it, take a close up pic of it, so you know exactly where it's at before you change it. That way you can always put it right back if you need to.

So, what you want to do is, adjust it so that it pulls more cable.

What should be happening right now is that cable should be loose, if that's the case then you want it taught. You want it taught enough just enough so when you pull it, it clicks in the trannyand that's it. Not tight, just taught.

Now while you are doing this if it's not pulling back, and it's just firm, like no spring, then there is a problem and you will have to drop the pan. But you will want to order a new one first.

If the cable is already taught before even adjusting it, and it clicks just after pulling it slightly this goes outside of my knowledge, and hopefully someone will know what's going on.

Ah, here's a good adjustment writeup with a couple ways of doing this:
http://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-240- ... ment-40043

this one goes into detail if you have to replace it:
http://forums.turbobricks.com/archive/i ... 11329.html

kevman83 · Post by **kevman83** » 04 Aug 2014, 10:05

Thanks a lot for the info sadly I can't work on the car for a bit, going on vacation soon and I couldn't drive it home so its still up at my dads house.

Just to be safe I'm going to order a trans filter, gasket, kick down cable, and mounts. Thankfully my father hooked it up with all new hoses and stuff and he bought bushings all around so I have a nice set of spare parts. My GF loves the car already too. My daily is a Honda CRX, and she hates being so low to the ground haha. So I'd love to get this running. Thanks again for all the advice.

Post by **abscate** » 14 Aug 2014, 06:51

The noise description could also be a knocking CV joint or bad wheel bearing if it happens on a turn. It is hard to imagine how a turn can activate the starter unless you have some really messed up wiring.

Bad wiring in the starter circuit is high amperage ...and will lead to fires....